Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi suffered another humiliating defeat as the Senate acquitted Donald Trump for the second time on an article of impeachment.
That was just the beginning of the bad news for the Democrats.
And then Donald Trump made one promise about a comeback that had all hell breaking loose.
After the Senate acquitted former President Trump on a 57-43 vote, Donald Trump released a statement decrying the attempt by the Washington establishment to exact revenge against him for winning the 2016 election.
“This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country,” Trump declared. “No president has ever gone through anything like it, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the almost 75 million people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us just a few short months ago.”
Trump also warned the Washington establishment that in the coming months Trump would have big announcements to make about his political future and how the “Make America Great Again” movement would shape the environment in the 2022 and 2024 elections.
“Our historic, patriotic & beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead I have much to share with you & I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people,” Trump added.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tried to translate Trump’s message and posted on social media that Trump intended to take a victory and tour and exact payback against the Republicans that stabbed him in the back and sold out their own voters by supporting impeachment.
“Translation- a possible victory tour, announcements of candidates to challenge people on his hit list, among other items,” Haberman wrote.
In the immediate future, that likely means Donald Trump campaigning for primary challengers to pro-impeachment Republicans like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and Jamie Herrera Beutler.
Cheney, Kinzinger and Herrera Beutler became the face of the GOP establishment’s attempt to use impeachment to exile Trump from American politics and purge Trump’s voters from the Republican Party.
But their impeachment scheme backfired.
And now Donald Trump emerged from the trial still the most popular Republican in America.
The Never Trump movement is—at best—about twenty percent of the Republican Party.
In politics, it’s awfully tough to win when you are on the wrong side of an 80/20 issue.
Even though seven Republicans voted to convict Donald Trump, six of them may never appear on the ballot again.
Pat Toomey and Richard Burr are retiring.
Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Bill Cassidy and Susan Collins are all up for re-election in 2024 and 2026 and this vote may make it impossible for them to seek re-election.
Only Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski voted to convict Trump and is up for re-election in 2022.
No Republican that believes they have a future in the GOP voted to convict.
And that should be warning to the Liz Cheneys and Adam Kinzingers of the world that they appear to be on the bad end of the GOP’s internal struggle to define itself following the 2020 election.
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